DON’T BANK ON IT
WaMu will forge ahead on Ahmanson despite massive litigation
By Michael Collins
Ventura County Reporter – December 26, 2002
Tim McGarry was Washington Mutual's spokesman for Ahmanson Ranch
Last Thursday the Ventura County Board of Supervisors reasserted the 1992 board’s 4-1 vote, signing off on the Ahmanson Ranch’s supplemental environmental impact report (SEIR) and approval of the Phase A Master Tract Plan. Predictably, the reaction was fast and furious.
“As you are no doubt aware, the [Los Angeles] City Council has already voted unanimously to instruct the city attorney to file suit over this project,” Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Keith Pritsker told the Reporter. “The city attorney’s office will vigorously litigate for the protection of the quality of life of the residents of the San Fernando Valley”
“The Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Board has substantial concerns regarding the use of groundwater at the Ahmanson Ranch project,” a water board official added. “Additional water well tests are in order to determine whether the development will or will not pose a threat to human health or the environment.”
The lone vote against the 3,050-home development, to be situated on 2,783 acres of pristine ranchland, came from Supervisor Steve Bennett.
Now that the curtain has finally dropped on the decade-long Act One of the Ahmanson Ranch saga, The Reporter interviewed Tim McGarry, Washington Mutual’s vice president of corporate public relations, for his insights on the controversial development. The questions and answers were exchanged electronically—the bracketed material in the replies is the product of Reporter editing, and the parenthetical entries are McGarry’s.
Michael Collins: The Reporter and other publications have noted that there are entities prepared to sue Washington Mutual over this issue. Also, the state regional water quality control board showed up at the hearings and expressed its concerns with the SEIR. The Department of Fish and Game, U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also submitted letters into evidence expressing reservations about the SEIR. Is Washington Mutual ready to spend what could be another decade overcoming the possible lawsuits and what may be a contentious permitting process?
Tim McGarry: Practically, we expect things to move much more quickly and the history of the project supports this view, hi 1993, a similarly formidable line-up of entities sued under CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] to void Ventura County’s development agreement with Ahmanson and overturn certification of the original EBR for the project Petitioners’ claims were denied in Superior Court in 1994. This decision was sustained at the appellate level the following year. Our attorneys are optimistic that a new round of suits could be resolved even more expeditiously We expect to break ground in 2004.
I think you may be overstating agency concerns relative to the SEIR. We intend to work cooperatively with the agencies you mentioned to ensure that any concerns are resolved to their satisfaction and we expect the process will be constructive, not contentious. Bear in mind, too, that much of the work on remaining entitlements has already been completed and has simply been on hold while we completed the CEQA process. We believe this will help us to complete pending entitlements within a reasonable amount of time.
MC: Folks have commented on what they perceive as a somewhat nasty and personalized tone of Washington Mutual advertisements and a press release issued (the day before the Board vote). Regarding your “We’ll call you” ad in the [Ventura County] Star, do you feel the tone of that ad was justified and, if so, why? And in a Dec. 19 press release on the plan, it refers to “hype and hysteria.” What exactly is the “hype” and what exactly is the “hysteria?”
TM: Come on, Michael. Rob Reiner has traded relentlessly on his celebrity and that of his pals to bring attention to his views and advance his anti-Ahmanson agenda. I think he’s big enough to handle a little chiding on this score. As to tone, we’ve gotten a lot of favorable comment on the humor in the ad, including an editorial in the Ventura County Star Saturday morning. I’m told even [Rally to Save Ahmanson Ranch's] Chad Griffin found the ad funny.
The “hype and hysteria” phrase in the press release refers to all the emotionalism and fearmongering relative to perchlorate and contamination (combined with a dearth of fact-based analysis) that infested the hearings. [Former Environmental Protection Agency Secretary] Carol Browner’s presentation was typical—basically a stump speech, long on references to thyroid deficiency and fetal development issues but short on facts directly pertinent to the matter at hand— what should or should not be done with the well on MRCA [Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority] land.
No one disputes that perchlorate is a dangerous toxin, and everyone agrees that, when detected, it has to be dealt with. However, the specific dangers posed by well No. 1 and how to mitigate or avoid them were the critical issues facing the board. To their credit, all the supervisors (including Steve Bennett) kept their focus on the facts and on these issues and their resolution. They refused to let themselves be distracted by “cartoons” and other red herrings served up by the testifiers from Rally [to Save Ahmanson Ranch], whose real objective was clearly delay.
